Adventures In Faith

2011-05-12T08:47:00.000-07:00

Whispers of Life and Hope

The trees are Old Growth Douglas Fir and they tower high and stand protectively over this spot along the water. The ferns abound, gathering here and there in orchestrated welcome. This spring the creek is full but not engorged as sometimes it can be as the snow in the higher hills journeys down, through this sanctuary. Rich, clear, clean water pours through a channel carved in the stone creek-bed. It pools around a large rock with room for 10 or more to sit upon it, but today there is only one.

I come here to sit and think. Really I come here to drink in the peace and faithful murmur of this place. I don’t know how it comes to be here or why this land hasn't been “cut and cleared” but I love that it is here. It gives me strength to be here. It gives me hope to know this place exists. I could fish here, but I enjoy sitting silently. I have to hike to get in to this spot but when I arrive, I want nothing more than to be still and listen to the water, the air in the trees, the echo of my thoughts – the whole of the place. The reassurance of this spot speaks to me.

If I were omnipotent and wise, I might love my people with places like this. To meet them quietly and eagerly with such a tender active voice as this setting speaks would be a great delight.

Perhaps in the grandest scheme of things this was build for me, or I was built to yearn for such places and moments as this. When I am here, I simply cannot but pray. Perhaps that is why I journey here, when prayer eludes me. For everything here is alive in prayer and curiously gives life to me. I can only nod my head in grateful thanks of this grace.

God of all that is living, is this the language which you give that, perchance you speak with me? I pray it is so.

Mitch Watney

Psalm 23:1-3a

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

³ he refreshes my soul.

Nooma | Open | Preview

2010-07-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

When it is time to pray, It is also time to ask, "Where is God in the circumstance?"

It is time to invite God to work in this circumstance, to bring loving and creative

life to this event and the lives touched by it. To pray is to ask, what part we can play

in God's touching human lives in a particular place in a unique way, and to open ourselves

to just what that creative act just might be. To watch for it and bear witness to its coming.

To pray, is to be open. To be open, is a great adventure in faith.

Two Watch Together

2010-06-17T08:42:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest adventures in faith I have ever embarked upon is the sharing of my life with the one whom I have chosen, who has chosen me. Daily we repeat the vows we have made, with or eyes and with our hearts.

Every day I try to see the world as from her eyes:

To see what she sees, to appreciate her view -- upon the world.

It is a wonder to simply enjoy looking together, at the world before us.

Curiously, there are great moments in life to be had in simply, stopping together, to drink in the last dancing rays of light given off by the sun as it continues on, behind the horizon, away from our view, but not from our appreciation. The warmth of its last few rays rain sweet upon our embrace, and we are one; in our watching and receiving and enjoying.

Seeing a Sunset together is the best way to live it.

Share the light, love the moment and soak it in.

Happy Anniversary my Love; my partner, my flower, my friend.

…and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one.’

Mark 10:8

Listen for when things "Click."

2010-06-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

I was lost in my mid twenties, too much education and not enough “out in the world” life experience. As a part of my searching I remembered being a teacher’s assistant for 5^th grade Sunday school when I was in High School. It wasn’t a great experience but I made a few connections with a couple of the kids and with the teacher. I wondered if teaching on my own would be meaningful, so I volunteered. I was quite unsure of how it would all go. The only opening was in the 4,5 and 6 year old class, so I volunteered for that.

As I got into the class a few weeks I discovered that I wasn’t thrilled with the curriculum. So I began to experiment with what was working with the kids. Things like sharing time were fun. Turns out not many people had time to listen to the kids, so when I did, they loved it. We built upon that and began to pray together after sharing time. We prayed like God was a big brother or sister we idolized, who looked after us.

We would play games that explored the lesson for that class; we had snack time and show and tell. It was a great experience. Parents began talking to me about their children’s sharing about class. Turns out our playing and sharing in class was opening the children up to sharing with their parents. “Click” I thought to myself. I still hear from the parents of two of those children. The kids are married and have kids of their own these days but they still remember that Sunday morning time together.

Mark 10:13-16

¹³People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." ¹⁶And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.

Prayer:

In each of us O Lord, you have given the gift of reaching and touching a few special ones that you wish to draw near to you. Allow us to be the heart and hope thorough which others will draw near to you. Let us offer ourselves to your service until where hear the “click” of your unlocking our lives. Because of the life of Jesus and in his name we pray. Amen.

Letters of Faith

2010-06-01T12:57:00.000-07:00

You show that you are a letter from Christ, … written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of the human heart. Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.

2^nd Corinthians 3:3-4

I’ve been listening more lately. It is a great way to get to know people. When I have turned up the gain on my intent to listen, I found there were a number of people there ready to talk about their lives and their faith with me. (These names are fictitious but the stories are real)

Susie talked about physical and verbal abuse she has been through and about the joy she has these days in treating people with love and respect that she had not received at some points in her life. You can see the peace and freedom, preciously won, in her eye and hear it in her voice.

Mark talked about his parents who as they age are terribly difficult to know how to care for. He talk about how to “honor your Father and Mother” when their patterns are destructive to themselves and to their adult children. Difficult questions indeed. What an honor to watch a man struggled with being faithful in a difficult situation where there are no easy answers. It reminded me of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. “Your will be done, Lord,” he said. And Mark would add, “By me Lord, May your will be done by me.”

Patsy talked about the wonder of watching her daughter begin to sparkle with the beginnings of faith. As she sees the strength of believing take root in this young child, the deep satisfaction gives her peace and somehow communicates hope and encouragement, even to me, as I listen.

As I think of these stories shared, I also think of this passage from Second Corinthians 2:3-4. Listening to these friends was very much like being encouraged in faith by the scriptures. In fact, I think these lives, like many books in the New Testament, are letters – written by Christ to any who would hear. These stories of faith are the heart beat of the Living Word, making itself known in our lives.

2009-09-08T15:51:00.001-07:00

Some days are just seared into your memory by
the shear vitality of a long string of moments
that begin to change who you are.

Upon the Waters

2009-09-08T15:41:00.000-07:00

The beauty of specific moments do float by us. How soft and simple their voice -- so easy to overlook. Yet a still small voice does speak. "More than flying, it is in being that we truly soar. so... soar!"

Of Rocks and Walks

2009-08-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

Rocks, they're everywhere. Perhaps they tell a story if your geology is better than mine. But for many ages people have used stone to pass messages and to others over long stretches of time. Piles of stones like this one mark trail heads through the wilderness in the arctic and like this pile, they offer a message of encouragement from those who have passed this way previously to those who will come.

Placing stones together, on top of one another in this way, is a curiously human endeavor. It is a way to add your voice to the landscape, "I was here and enjoyed it." Other too, add their voices and a conversation begins along the trail, over time. You can hear these voices with your eyes, and imagine their messages with your heart.

Occasionally, along the trail, enough people will pass over a long enough time frame and enough

stones will be gathered and carefully placed together, that the character of their hope will give rise to a substantial word sent along the trail of time to future pedestrians, saying something like: "We passed this way and hoped to make your way easier . May you too walk upon our effort and share our vision to help others pass this way as well." When you walk across such expressions you can't help but hear the music of the effort that has now echoed through time. In this case some 800 years.

I wonder, how we today will act in faith together that our joint effort and expression will leave a

lasting monument, a commentary of our time and a gift to those who will walk by this place in times to come.

On the road, “fellowship” is a core value

2009-06-26T13:13:00.000-07:00

Walking the Camino de Santiago

Journal Entry April 16, 2007 The road is a curious place to stay open to people. It is more natural to keep a protective distance. After all, people walk separated from each other by their pace, their thoughts, their destinations and more. And yet, on the journey, people come up and talk with you. They join in the conversation, the commonality of being “on the way” together.

Slowly, and even in passing, again and again, connection, understanding and points of view are shared. And sometimes you make friends, across the language and cultural barriers. We discovered that even more possibilities open when we share a meal with others, to reveal ourselves, to serve and care for each other.

Perhaps in unsuspecting ways Christ is still being revealed around the table where bread is broken and hearts are opened. A meal together is often a sign of friendship if not simply an acknowledgement that yes, we too walk the road together and that begins to unite us.

Luke 24:28-32a

28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. ²⁹But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. ³⁰When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.³¹Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. ³²They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road… (NRSV)

Preparing for the Journey

2009-06-21T07:24:00.000-07:00

Journal entry Date: March 23, 2007

I walked today, with Jenny, in the woods and in preparation for walking for weeks along the Camino (Spanish for “the way”). When we began today, the rain came as an intrusion and disruption, an annoyance and a problem to protect against. The showers meant pulling out the rain gear and keeping out the wet, how will the rain and the trail make muddy the problems ahead?

Not long later I noticed Jenny, seemed to care little of the discomfort. She was more focused on the trail and the way and the next discovery. I wondered about Spain and the rain on the plains, and how I would travel there when it was wet. What gifts and awareness, learning’s or hardships will come?

As the afternoon walked along, I noticed another change… in me. Instead of a posture of protecting myself from the rain, as we do when we run inside when the sprinkles begin. Now, the rain was more part of the pleasure of going. It too was becoming part of the adventure and fun of walking. Even the rain is part of the experience, part of accepting the world around me with great patience and joy. Walking with the rain is learning to let go of how I’m affected and receive the company that comes, even company I might not otherwise have chosen. There is much of life to experience which is good that would otherwise fall outside of my petty, self-centered desire for how things should be. I seldom realize how I shut myself off when I run inside from of the rain.

Perhaps of this journey, which begins from Easter, I can prepare to meet the unchosen fun (the moments I would run from), like the rain; to receive them, to accept them and relish each moment with the invitation it offers.

For now, the droplets come and go in their natural cycle, as the rain clouds pass over, and I walk along too, at my own pace, more accompanied by the clouds and rain rather than running from them. I dance among the droplets as they splash, while I walk and enjoy their falling on and around me… much more like the dog and the joy of the trail.

Laugh, dance and raise your voice to heaven

2009-05-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

Taking in deeply the wonder and beauty of the world, seeking it’s heights, breathing fully of its natural fragrances, is very close to worship.

Love, appreciation and wonder are seeds that give start and nurture to faith.

Good as Gold

2009-05-12T20:28:00.001-07:00

Taste and see that the Lord is Good. (Psalm 34:8)

Follow the Sun!

Watching, Breathing, Praying?

2009-05-12T20:18:00.000-07:00

Who is watching whom?

This is a spy hop – surging up to allow a view of who is around and what is happening on the surface. It is curiosity and self protection, and awareness all wrapped up into one.

This barnacle encrusted Grey Whale is popping up to check us out. To look into a world were she cannot enter but for a brief moment. It is a curious thing that without this surface world, she would also not be able to breathe. She can plumb great depths on one solitary breath and scour the bottom for a meal, filtering through the sands. But soon she must again return to the surface were she cannot live for long at all, but from which she is inextricable linked.

I think of my prayer life like this. If I go too long without it, I weaken and suffer. I must return again to a work that is curious and interesting. Yet it is a world in which I cannot live. I too must dive back down into the realm of my daily existence. But Yes, I must not get too far from that place were I will, and must return to see what is going on and to Breathe, to look around and know my world better.

In the breathing there is life and broadened awareness, and so it is with prayer.

Moments of Agony and Fulfillment

2009-05-01T16:07:00.000-07:00

The Artful Crash

The technique of the artful crash: To float along, eyeing the blue depth just below the surface until the goal is within sight. And then, to roll over, head braced - wings folded back, body streamlined and smash into the blue resistance. Perchance the aim was true and the impact undeviating and a meal is gained, if only a couple of morsels for the work.

There has got to be a better way to get a meal!

There are times in my journey of faith when I feel like this: A few morsels gained amid the spectacular crash. I wonder at the courage it takes to keep crashing about for the sustenance of faith. Yet, on occasion, a really satisfying meal keeps me coming back for more.

Hope Tends Toward Hope

2009-03-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

Hope Tends Toward Hope

I love the color Yellow. I have had to come a long way to get here. When I was a kid, among the worst insults you could receive from someone was, “You are so Yellow,” meaning cowardly, chicken, afraid, holding back, withdrawing, unengaged – or just plain, not like the rest of us. In those days Yellow was mild, weak and passé. I felt ambivalent about it.

Now days, Yellow holds me together, keeps me sane and reminds me who I am. Yellow is warm and bright, happy and hopeful. It is rich and not ostentatious. Yellow is not Gold or greedy. It has a self contented peacefulness about it. Yellow is centered. This Orchid that is thriving in our household is yellow, and perhaps is grows strong in the love and hopefulness in our lives, Shannon and mine.

This winter, as I watched our orchid reach for its new twelve blooms (twice as many as it had when I bought it), I watch it glow and shimmer in the last bits of light that pierce through the February cold. I realize that I too hunger for every ray of Yellow sunlight I can get this time of year. This orchid and I enjoy a harmony of longing together for the richness of the sun. Hopeful! That is what I feel in these moments. The Yellow sun, the vibrant orchid and this glow I feel inside are all participating together in feeding and enriching one another.

It's like the vibrations of strings on a harp. Pluck a “C,” and the “C” strings in each octave will also begin to pick up the vibration and “sound” as well. Not only that, but overtones will begin: Strings that fit into "C" major chord combinations will also pick up the vibration and also begin to slightly sound. Perhaps the orchid, the sun and I also fit into this pattern of life and activity. Perhaps nature reverberates through us in harmony with what is good and hopeful and sustaining.

Perhaps this is just nature’s way. Yet the joy I feel, seems to have a smile in it not really my own. Perhaps I share the smile of another from whom all this wonder comes. My hopefulness receives this question gladly and peacefully ponders such possibilities.

In the mean time, my wife, my heart, my home and friends all seem to take encouragement from this hopefulness I gleen and give. It is a gift to be able to share, and share freely of this nectar. This orchid and I, seem to have taken in some of its warmth and color. I love the color Yellow. I have come a long way to get here.

In the touch of water -- life, death and rebirth flow to us.

2009-02-28T08:44:00.000-08:00

This is a tidal flat. The highest zone where tides influence and shape the life and color of the land. In the winter, at the highest tides and during storm surge these flats will flood and salt water invades this landscape. The grass dies back and stumps soak up salt and moisture which aid in their decomposition. Shades of brown dominate and decay abounds. As Spring comes and the weather calms and tides soften, the nutrients left from winter decay give rise to vibrant color. Now the grass begins its resurgence. Wild flowers push up and express themselves for a time and birds heading north come and go among the exuberance. Its a cycle, yet at any moment you can see the touch of water and even perceive its past and future effects.

I know the touch of water in my life too. At one time or another it floods in and devastates. At other times I thirst for the expanse of ocean and its over whelming enormity. And still, occasionally I know the sweet, resuscitating joy of a deep drink, a cool mist or a refreshing plunge.

These tidal images speak of the complexity of faith and life. They remind me to hope. They say, "live in the challenges of today and strain forward for the gifts of tomorrow." "Be in the moment taking in the character of all that has been and all this is to come." In these reminders I find the threads of a life of faith. In these reminders I find hints and clues to the fingerprints of God. I see them in the landscape and upon the character of my life and relationships. In the touch of water -- life, death and rebirth flow to us from the heart of God.

Walking Through the Waters

2009-02-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

EXPLORING THE FRESH MISTS OF FAITH

Water comes in many physical states and expressive moods.
By its essential character it enters into the discussion and discovery of much or our lives.

Water, in its history, carries our origins. In its omnipresence, it reflects our present struggles.

Fear and chaos, refreshment and formation are all expressed and engaged in water.

Engaging life and adventure in and around water is a primal act of knowing ourselves, our origins and our redemption as well.

Searching out the power and effects of water is also a way of tracing the lines and textures of where God and the world have left their mark upon us and within us.

(Christians sometimes talk about baptism this way. In the water we are reborn and reconnected to the life and work of God in the world. Perhaps this is very near the creaturely truth of our species, as well as the spiritual truth of our inner being and lives of faith as well. The people of Israel talk about their history this way, in their stories of coming through the waters on dry ground leaving Egypt and heading toward the promised land. Perhaps the image works for all of us who seek the rebirth of a life of faith.)

Getting your hands and heart into Faith.

2009-01-31T21:13:00.000-08:00

Faith grows. It begins and invites you to be carried with it, as an invitation offers more to come. Faith, simply asks, will you come along?

There is a point at which, watching from the sidelines will no longer grow the bounty that faith offers, you must jump in and get your hands wet.

To touch what is young and vibrant and larger than yourself, these are the beginnings of faith. Faith fills you with wonder to see what will be.

Faith is standing on the edge of the unknown and beginning to move toward it, to open yourself to it, to accept the life that comes when you receive it. Getting your hands into faith is the only way to grow with it and receive the gifts that will come in the journey, in faith.

Grey Whales bear their calves in the waters around Baja Mexico. There the wonder and mircle of new life along with the challenges of learning the realities of life are in full swing.

Glimmers of the Hidden Depths III

2009-01-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

So much of who and what we are is expressed in the world around us.
Beauty and eternal love express themselves in the physical world, an embodiment of the character and personality that even in its vastness persistently engages and sustains us. A foundation under girding and engaging us as we explore what we see and do not see, what we know and what lies hidden just above or below the surface.

Glimmers of the Hidden Depths II

2009-01-22T19:07:00.001-08:00

So much of the world is outside from under our easy observation. Even what we do see, so sweetly glosses over deeper realities that reside mostly unobserved and hardly imagined by surface dwellers.

Taking in the beauty that glitters on the surface does not necessarily allow us to appreciate the wonder and intimacy of deeper things.

The six-week old Gray Whale calf (at left) almost fills the frame while its mother hangs close, under girding the infant’s explorations. Her presence is so large and foundational that we can’t quite take in the whole scene.

What a joy to exist above and below and know the wonder of each, allowing the pleasures of air and water to augment the gift of the other. “But don’t forget to breathe,” she prepares to sing.

Glimmers of the Hidden Depths I

2009-01-22T19:02:00.000-08:00

So much of our awareness glimmers over unsuspected and hidden depths. Perhaps heaven playfully expresses itself in the beauty and gift of the wider physical world within our view, while just outside our immediate awareness, wider discourse waits – as layers of a conversation just waiting to be perceived and engaged. Duets play around us mimicking the score just waiting to be shared and appreciated.

2009-01-21T14:48:00.000-08:00

Morning Mists

For a moment between sleep and awake, where dreaming slips away with light and from dreams the world emerges. There, for one moment, whole.

There and then, bridging the divide that hides a greater truth. Then to see and imagine and know ourselves and our existence not only enfleshed but also released.

That is the fleeting glimpse of all that speaks the truth of self, the world and the one who knows both.

(Shannon and spent our honeymoon in the San Juans of Washington State. On our last day we anchored off Spencer Spit on Lopez island and had a relaxing beach fire and walk. A great way to wrap up our time in the San Juans. The next morning as I prepared the boat to leave this scene greeted me. To me it represented the wonderful time we enjoyed there and offered farewell as we headed back into our everyday lives and responsibilities.)

2009-01-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

"Adventure is a gateway to self discovery."

We've all heard it said, "the longest journey begins with but a single step." It really has become a trite, silly true-ism, especially from the position of not having ventured or extended ourselves beyond what is familiar, comfortable or habitual. However, when we have accomplished what is meaningful and valuable to us (a relationship, a journey, a feat of endurance) we discover that what we know of ourselves and the world around us has blossomed.

Here we discover that new seeds have been planted within us and our hearts rejoice at the curious and intricate detail that make up our world and our place it in. I think hope and faith are planted in us in these moments. The space within us where they grow is cultivated by these experiences. Here the beginnings of abundant life take root. Perhaps it is true that the best way to understand our place in the world is get up and walk around it and perhaps even leave it for a while. When we return, then it will be possible to posses it and abound within it.

It is not an accident that our legs are naturally built to take us on a journey, no surprise then that our hearts also wish us to explore, discover and extend ourselves. These are the first stirrings of faith.